*WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020*
*ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S BEST BOOKS OF 2020*
*A NYT CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF 2020*
'One of the best debut novels I have ever read. Shockingly good ... A classic.' Max Porter
The sensational Dutch bestseller: 'Exceptional' (Financial Times) 'Exhilarating' (Independent) 'Luminous' (Observer) 'Beautifully wild' (Guardian) 'An earthy and irreverent new voice, thrillingly uninhibited' (New York Times)
I asked God if he please couldn't take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit.
'Amen.'
Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of 'blush words' that aren't in the Bible. But when a tragic accident ruptures the family, her curiosity warps into a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies - unlocking a darkness that threatens to derail them all. A bestselling sensation in the Netherlands, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld's radical debut novel is studded with images of wild, violent beauty: a world of language unlike any other, exquisitely captured in Michele Hutchison's translation.